Dickinson High holds off Jersey City rival Snyder in Hamilton Park Summer Basketball League

For two young teams, yesterday’s game at Hamilton Park between Dickinson and Snyder provided some valuable experience.

In a game that went down to the wire, Dickinson pulled off a 39-34 victory over cross-town rival in yesterday’s Hamilton Park Summer Basketball League action.

Dickinson’s Anthony Florence led all scorers with 12 points, while teammate Carmine Marchitto added 11 points. Davontaay Harris paced Snyder with 10 points, all coming in the second half, but the Tigers were held to just four points in the fourth quarter.

Marchitto, a rising junior, believes that tightly played summer exhibition matchups, like yesterday’s, will pay dividends when the season reboots in November.

0“Playing in games like this prepare us mentally and physically,” said Marchitto. “We played our hearts out today, put our endurance to the test, and came out with a win.”

After Dickinson jumped out to an early 13-4 lead in the first quarter, Snyder began to inch its way back into the game. By the third quarter, the Tigers finally broke through when a Harris lay-up gave Snyder its first lead of the evening at 30-29.

However, led by Marchitto and the speedy Florence, Dickinson refused to give in. After trading leads, a nifty fast break lay-up from Florence on an assist from Marchitto gave the Rams a 35-34 lead that they refused to relinquish, playing tough defense down the stretch to clinch the victory.

“This league gets you ready to play,” said Dickinson coach Sean Drennan. “It’s great competition and we really improve a lot playing in game situations like this.”

The Rams are coming off of an 18-10 campaign in which they lost to eventual NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group 4 champion Linden in the second round of the state playoffs.

“We’re a young, we’re still learning how to play together, and we need to keep improving,” said Drennan, who loses four starters from this past year’s team. “We finally began to play as a team today.”

Like Dickinson, Snyder is also looking to improve on the success they achieved this past winter. The Tigers played in their first group title since 1997, before losing by only a point to Newark Tech in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group 2 championship.

“We’re so young and inexperienced,” said Snyder coach Shelton Gibbs. “A few guys who are playing on a varsity level for the very first time made a few young mistakes today.

“These games are all about getting better. I rather the young guys make mistakes now and learn from them for the future.”